Turnbull & Asser - English Bespoke Shirt Maker (Part II)

[Interested readers may go to Part I of the Turnbull & Asser review series, in which the measurement session was detailed.]

How many problems can you find from this "bespoke" shirt? An inspiring example has recently been made available via extremepc on StyleForum - although I would say his shirt was at least wearable.

With Great Expectations, Great Disappointments await. The first shirt from Turnbull & Asser was, in @shirtingfantasy's sartorial journey, one of the worst-fitting garment ever happened.

Apart from the collar (one was advised to choose from their collars on display, so there was not much room for error anyway) and sleeves (not bad, but not spectacular either), there was nothing positively impressive about the shirt. The crux of the failure - which could only lead to a 不言而喻 ("goes without saying") kind of outcome - was the overdone waist suppression. Whether it was a house style championed by Mr Courtney or simply a result of hang-over from a previous night in Wan Chai was largely unknown. For the slim @shirtingfantasy, a shirtwaist of 29" for his 29" waist was really an unseen and unheard-of experience. Maybe it was intended to become a corset?

Thanks to Arnold (the new Attire House manager) and Louis (a rather involved and dedicated member of their team), the disappointment was communicated to the shirtmaker. According to Arnold, Mr Courtney actually managed to create not-the-most-conventional fitting garments during his trunk shows, and they specifically requested "a more experienced staff" from T&A this time.

James (left) and @shirtingfantasy at the recent T&A trunk show.

It didn't take a lot of prompting before James volunteered his work experience: first as an actor (?!!), then as a shirt salesperson at Thomas Pink and eventually enlisted by Turnbull & Asser into their bespoke team. As though it really took years of experience to tell, he remarked that the shirt would require a remake (well...), that the shoulder area can be refined (okay...) and he will also make other adjustments to make sure @shirtingfantasy would be "much happier" when the new shirt comes back.

James did take special care to check if the Sea Island Quality fabric, used on this first shirt, still exists (@shirtingfantasy was quite certain that it does) "I have to check to see if the fabric is still here because these fabric items are specially created for us..."

For real? 😉 (Please see the Part I of this review series to understand why @shirtingfantasy would not be easily convinced into believing this)

Within a minute, James confirmed that the fabric is still there and that they can indeed remake my shirt in the same fabric.

So, what's next?

Incidentally, The Attire House was hosting the trunk shows for Attolini and Finamore shirts later that week, and was thus able to take single-shirt order for Finamore made-to-measure orders.

As with many MTM processes, @shirtingfantasy was asked to wear a sizing shirt, so the maker can make adjustments on the standard pattern.

Louis actually took more detailed measurements for the MTM order than what Mr Courtney did for bespoke. In this shot, he was trying to determine how far @shirtingfantasy's right shoulder extends by palpating for the lateral bony prominence.

Hopefully, there will soon be a bespoke vs MTM, British vs Italian duel in a few months' time...

Until then, goodbye!

Shop information:

Turnbull & Asser - Trunk Show at Attire House

Minimum order: two shirts (first order), no restriction thereafter
Price range: HKD 2900+/shirt for Egyptian cotton, HKD 3600/shirt for "Sea Island Quality" and HKD 4500 for genuine West Indian Sea Island cotton
CMT service: Not available during trunk show

Handmade option: Not available

Finamore 1925 - Made-to-Measure at Attire House

To be detailed in a later post!

Mr Arnold Wong (Manager, The Attire House)
4F, Duke Wellington House, 14-24 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong tel/+852 2619 9007

Finally, The Attire House team (who had to endure all these T&A chaos, despite none being their fault): from left to right, Arnold (Manager), Bowie (a very sweet lady who sometimes got to answer @shirtingfantasy's bombarding emails) and Louis (the young and energetic guy who makes sure you are satisfied with your purchase at their shop).